From the Indian Ocean to the Punbjab

Itinerary

Day 1 – Karachi

• Arrival in Karachi.
• Airport pick-up and transfer to the hotel.
• Meet your fellow travelers at 5:00 PM in the hotel lobby for a short welcome and briefing.
• After the meeting, we’ll head to Clifton Beach: one of Karachi’s most popular seaside spots.
• Go for dinner with the group.
• Overnight stay in Karachi.

Day 2 – Karachi

• Highlight: Today we’ll have a full day of exploring the city of Karachi, the largest city in Pakistan and also the gateway to the Indian Ocean. 
• Our first stop is the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) building, with nearby the Merewether Clock Tower, the huge Native Jetty Bridge and the Fish Market at the Karachi Fish Harbor. 
• Visit the Flagstaff House (Quaid-e-Azam House Museum), the former residence of Pakistan’s founder.
• View the historic Frere Hall, a colonial-era building surrounded by lush gardens.
• Explore the striking Mohatta Palace, known for its pink stone and Mughal-Rajput architecture.
• Step inside Masjid-e Tooba, the largest single-dome mosque in the world.
• Stop at Tomb of Jinnah (also known as the Mazar-e-Quaid), here lies Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan.
• We’ll close off the day with a walk around the Empress Market, the oldest market of Karachi. 
• Overnight stay in Karachi.

Day 3 – Karachi – Makli – Hyderabad

• Morning departure from Karachi.
• Visit the Tomb of Chaukundi. This was the place where Islam first came to Pakistan.
• Highlight: We drive to Thatta and the Makli Necropolis, a famous UNESCO site in Pakistan. The story goes that over 1 million people are buried in the hills here.
• Explore the Shah Jahan Mosque also known as the Jamia Masjid of Thatta.
• We drive on to Hyderabad, famous for its Bombay bakery coffee cake.
• Evening walk through the bazaar of Hyderabad, feel the authentic local life in Pakistan.
• Overnight stay in Hyderabad.

Day 4 – Hyderabad – Sehwan Sharif

• Drive to Bhit Shah.
• Tour of the Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai shrine. Hopefully we’ll see some Sufi-dancing as well!
• Highlight: Drive to Ranikot Fort, this wall is also called the Chinese Wall of Pakistan with its vast walls. In more recent years it was a famous place for bandits to hide, but today it’s peaceful and quiet again.
• Visit in Sehwan Sharif one of the most holy shrines of Pakistan, also known as the Shrine of Lal Shah Baz Qalandar. At this shrine after sunset is often a Sufi Dance with music, locally known as Dhmal.
• Overnight stay in Sehwan Sharif.

Day 5 – Sehwan Sharif – Mohenjo Daro – Sukkur

• Drive to Mohenjo Daro.
• On the way we’ll stop at a traditional brick kiln to observe how bricks are crafted from clay. 
• Highlight: Continue to Mohenjo Daro. This is one of the best and largest preserved cities in the Indus civilization. The area is believed to be around 250 hectares. We explore the various places of this UNESCO site, including the museum.
• We’ll continue towards Sukkur.
• Along the way we’ll pay a visit to the Kot Diji Fort in Khairpur.
• Overnight stay in Sukkur.

Day 6 – Sukkur – Bahawalpur

• Today we’ll continue towards Bahawalpur. 
• Our first stop is Satiyen Jo Asthan, also known as the Sufi graveyard.  
• Highlight: We’ll take a boat trip on the Indus river, if we’re lucky we might spot the blind dolphins.
• See the 200 year old Sadhu Bela Temple, on an island in the Indus river. 
• If time permits, we’ll make a quick stop at the Bhong Mosque in Rahim Yar Khan.
• Short stop at the shrines of Uch Sharif, Uch was founded as Alexandria on the Indus, a town founded by Alexander the Great during his invasion of the Indus Valley.
• Highlight: Drive to Bahawalpur. Founded in 1748, Bahawalpur was the capital of the former princely state of Bahawalpur, ruled by the Abbasi family of Nawabs until 1955.
• Overnight stay in Bahawalpur.

Day 7 – Bahawalpur – Derawar Fort

• After leaving the hotel we’ll make our way to the Cholistan Desert. 
• Highlight: We visit the impressive and remote Derawar Fort in the Cholistan Desert. This incredible fort is 30m high and has a circumference of 1.5km.
• Stopover at the Abbasi Jamia Shahi Mosque and the royal graveyard of the Abbasi Dynasty.
• Upon our return in Bahawalpur we visit the Noor Mahal. An Italian-style castle, built in 1872. Nowadays it’s owned by the Ministry of Defense. Every night they organise a light show, which we will watch. 
• Overnight stay in Bahawalpur.

Day 8 – Bahawalpur – Multan – Lahore

• Today we’ll make our way towards Lahore, with a stop in the city of Multan.
• Highlight: Morning tour through Multan. We’ll check out the Shrine of Bahauddin Zakriya, Shah Rukn e Alam and Shahi Eid Gah Mosque.
• We hit the road again to drive to Lahore.
• Overnight stay in Lahore, perhaps the greatest of the Moghul dynasty’s cities, definitely the cultural capital of Pakistan.

Day 9 – Lahore

• We’ll start the morning with a Kushti (mud wrestling) demonstration in Lahore’s old city. 
• Visit Lahore Fort, the main citadel of the city.
• Highlight: Check out the Badshahi Mosque, the most famous and beautiful Mughal-style mosque in the city.
• Wazir Khan Mosque, with beautiful tilework and floral motifs. 
• Stroll through Lahore’s bustling old town, where you’ll encounter traditional street surgeons, dentists, pharmacists, and bone setters.
• Highlight: Check out the Wagah Border ceremony, you can see the lowering of the flag here every day. This happens with much fanfare from the Pakistani and Indian sides.
• Overnight stay in Lahore.

Day 10 – Lahore – Peshawar

• Drive to Peshawar. Today we’ll drive from the Punjab region to the Pashtun region of Pakistan. It’s going to be a long drive, but we’ll make regular stops.
• Overnight stay in Peshar.

Day 11 – Peshawar – Islamabad

• People who are going to Afghanistan will be applying for their visa first thing in the morning. Those who are not going to Afghanistan, we’ll visit the Peshawar Museum.
• Highlight: We’ll check out the famous old town of Peshawar, including the Sethi House, Gor Khatri and Mahabat Khan Mosque.
• We pay a visit to a truck paint workshop, here you’ll see how they make the traditional truck art.
• Return to Islamabad.
• Overnight stay in Islamabad.

Day 12 – Islamabad

• Airport drop off.
• End of the South Pakistan group tour.
• Or departure with Kam Air to Kabul for the Grand Afghanistan Tour.